The European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Research Council (ERC) jointly issued a statement on March 26, 2025, outlining their expectations for future changes concerning their budget, mandate, and governance, as well as their existing and future collaboration and roles.
Among other things, the two institutions stress in their joint statement:
- The EIC and the ERC have well-aligned systems and have built bridges between their respective funding schemes.
- The ERC and the EIC, each with their own unique objectives, therefore offer complementary support to the European research and innovation ecosystem.
- It is also vital that the budgets for the EIC and the ERC be increased to ensure substantial, attractive funding and more reasonable success rates for applicants.
- These budgets must be ringfenced in future EU R&I Framework Programme (FP10), even if included in an envisaged Competitiveness Fund.
- It is also vital for both the ERC and the EIC to have a clear mandate, independence and agility in governance and operations to maintain the highest standards of tailored support to Europe’s deep-tech start-ups and excellent researchers.